Rewritten
by city-of-wonder
Summary: Emmett's been alone for a long time now - and finally he's found someone who makes it all feel like it was worth it. AU where Rosalie was never changed, never met Emmett, never was one of the Cullens.
1. Chapter 1

Alice's eyes were wide – seeming to stare through Edward even as he sat directly in front of her, reading her vision. We all watched her intently. Carlisle had a slight frown on his face – he, of course, never really liked these confrontational situations. Myself, on the other hand? I would probably be shaking with excitement if I were human. I cracked my knuckles – how could I _not_ want to go out and kick some newborn vamp ass?

"It's an alley in Seattle. I've got a fairly good fix on its location now," Edward said, right as Alice began pulling out of the future.

"You three better get going…" Alice added on, writing the nearest intersection down on a piece of paper. Jasper took it from her, and there was a moment where their eyes met, something powerful flowing between them. I rolled my eyes… this kinda sucked. Was I _actually_ going to be forever alone? Jasper pressed a soft kiss to her forehead before getting up. I looked away. Usually, I'd take any chance to tease my siblings but I was too grumpy to try now.

We began making our way to the garage, and I sulked behind all the couples. My excitement had been dampened by the feeling of being a perpetual seventh wheel. Even _Edward_ , of all people, had found someone who wanted to deal with him. Jasper had Alice, Carlisle had Esme, Edward now had Bella and a daughter, and I, Emmett Cullen, had absolutely no one. Edward tossed a sympathetic look over his shoulder, no doubt at my thoughts.

 _Get out of my head, god dammit!_ I thought in my head for his benefit. I unlocked my Jeep getting into the driver's seat. Impatient from all the good byes, I revved my engine and put myself in the hunting zone, needing this even more now so I could get rid of this dark mood.

ooo

We parked in the first place we could find on the streets at the intersection Alice had given us. The drive hadn't done anything for my sourness and I channeled it towards determination. The moment we got out, I began scenting the air, just about instantly picking up the newborn's trail. It seemed to be going away from the direction of the alley.

Us three brothers looked between each other, but it was Jasper who gave the orders, in his usual militaristic manner when it came to these sorts of things – and of course we listened, it was his area of expertise, after all. "Edward and I will follow the trail. He'll call you if we find the newborn. You sweep the area – call us if you catch a fresher scent."

My eyes narrowed at having been given the run around job, rather than the attack itself. But I could see the logic. Jasper never did anything without properly strategizing. My strength was a big asset, so if I was sprung by the newborn, I'd be able to handle it alone. However, he would take the direct attack because he had the most experience with newborns, and between his emotional mojo and Edward's mind reading and speed, they'd manage a quick take down, so it was best they directly set on the path to find it.

Pushing away the feelings of discontent and frustration, I set in the direction of the alley as the place to begin my sweep, while they began on the trail. Stupid newborn couldn't have stayed where it was supposed to be. I wondered what changed between the time of Alice's vision and now. My phone began ringing quietly in my pocket. Upon pulling it out, I found: _Alice._ I swiped to pick up the call and – _BLOOD._

I felt venom build up in my mouth as I processed the alley – of course, the sensation was pretty distracting. The smell rose over the stink of the alley, and my ears pinpointed on a faint, sputtering heartbeat. Once I really caught the feel of it, everything else faded away. My eyes roved over the alley trying to find the source.

What happened next was a blur for me. With a speed that could've maybe have rivaled Jasper – even I wasn't cocky enough to try and match Edward there – I shoved aside a large dumpster almost instinctively, leaving huge dents in the metal which I picked up on at some deep subconscious level. There. A pool of blood. Somehow I was over her now, some part of me at the back of my mind processing the bleeding girl under me.

The blood was coming from her side, a dark red stain spreading through her shirt, pumping out with her wavering heartbeat. I took a deep breath and then held it, as I reached down to press two fingers to her wrist, red and slick. I could hear her heart beat, this really wasn't necessary, I tried to remind myself, yet, seeing that bright crimson staining my fingers I couldn't help it. It smelled so good… She was so close… It wouldn't hurt her for me to just take a taste… Not at all. I could hear Carlisle screaming in the back of my head as I couldn't help but take a taste off my fingertips. My eyes dropped shut at this feeling – no amount of mountain lions could compare. I felt a snarl build up, rumble in my chest, oh, yes, this – I needed it.

That's when her eyes opened. They were dark, I saw, with her fear, her pain, the revulsion, the desperation. It snapped me out of the haze. Guilt rolled over me and I quickly reached out towards her to pick her up, to run her to Carlisle. She scrambled back, hitting the wall of the alley – as if she could escape me, as if that wall did anything but leave me more room to –

"Please, please, please don't hurt me!" She cried out. _NO_. The word broke into my thoughts as if someone had shouted it in my ear.

I steeled my resolve shoving the guilt away, and offering my hand in as gentle and non-threatening a manner as I could, "Let me take you to help, I don't want to hurt you."

Her hands still pushed me away and I knew that wouldn't help. I batted her hands aside as softly as I could, like they were mosquitoes despite the fact that she was fighting her hardest. I cradled her to my chest, standing up. "I swear I'm not going to hurt you, just please stop screaming." I murmured to her, holding her carefully, trying to restrain her enough that she wouldn't be able to continue her thrashing. She was losing more and more blood and as the warmth seeped through my clothing and against my skin, I knew I had to do something before I became the monster again.

I held her up easily in one arm, using my hands to firmly grab her face and make her look at me. "I'm not going to hurt you!" I told her, my tone and expression earnest and probably panicked. Something about this seemed to calm her, and she nodded weakly, going limp in my grasp. Now that I didn't have to worry about her injuring herself, I carefully gathered her up and began moving up the ladder on the side of the building. There was no way I could risk getting stuck in traffic with her like this. I'd need to get her to Carlisle. Especially if she had been bit.

Once on the roof, and moving, I dialed Jasper. As soon as he picked up, I spoke into the phone- "Jasper, I found a girl-"

"Emmett, I can't let your weakness for women get in the way!" Jasper snapped and hung up on me.

 _Idiot!_ I thought, as I called him again, jumping between two of the roofs. Luckily it was approaching midnight and the cloud cover over the city was making me as unnoticeable as possible.

Jasper picked up again and sighed exasperated, "What?"

"This girl was in the alley Alice was talking about. She's bleeding, I think the newborn hurt her and ran off for some reason – maybe it sensed us, I don't know. I'm running her to Carlisle; bring my car back when you come." I murmured into the phone as fast as I could.

"We'll get the newborn. Edward thinks we're getting close. See you at home." With that response I hung up on Jasper, putting the phone back in my pocket. With one less thing to manage in this balancing act, I focused completely on the task of getting this girl to Carlisle, listening intently to her heartbeat as I propelled myself over the rooftops.


	2. Chapter 2

I was holding my breath – but as the house finally came into sight, I had to breathe. Breathe so I could shout out, "Carlisle! Help!" The front door opened before I could literally burst through it, almost on autopilot, I launched myself up the stairs to Carlisle's office where we still had an ER worth of equipment - the set up from Bella's pregnancy. I laid the girl down gently on the hospital cot and instantly Carlisle was on her. I moved out of his way as he began setting up drips, monitors, and Esme tore away part of the girl's shirt as gently as she could and leaving the room quickly, realizing the blood was too much for her. Carlisle pressed a cloth to the wound on her side, staunching the bleeding with light pressure. "Can you hold this here, Emmett?"

I nodded, holding the cloth as he did, pulling back on my strength so I didn't crush her, my gaze turning to the rapid rise and fall of her ribs. "Carlisle, is she going to be okay?" I asked anxiously. I didn't want to interrupt, but I had to ask.

"The new born didn't have a chance to bite her – she's been lacerated, consistent with a nail wound. She's not turning. I need to stabilize her vitals, get this blood flow to stop. She can recover from this." Despite his flurry of activity, his voice was as calm as ever, as he brought over a suturing needle, and some alcohol. His eyes glanced up at me, "I need to remove the cloth now. She'll be bleeding. Perhaps you should let us handle this." His gaze travelled past my shoulder and I saw Edward was back now. I let my brother remove my hands from the cloth, and backed away, all the way out of the room.

Once I was in the hall I sank down right against the outside wall of the room. With her in Carlisle's hands and the taste of her blood still on my tongue, the hunger began burning in my throat, almost matched by the guilt burning in my mind. Looking up, I noticed Esme, her eyes widening. She joined me on the floor, laying her hand on my shoulder in a comforting manner.

After a couple of moments of silence, Esme stated, "You saved her."

As her arm went around me, I turned my face into her shoulder and shook my head. "I tasted her blood. I wanted to kill her. I can still feel it, I still want it, Esme."

Her hand tightened in its grasp on mine, and she shook her head back at me. "Even after tasting her blood, you pulled away. You're strong, Emmett. So strong. You brought her back."

I didn't say anything more. This was my problem to deal with. Esme shouldn't have to coddle me. Shifting away, I went up to my room and washed the blood off myself, scrubbing hard to try and get rid of the sweet metallic scent that seemed to have soaked into my skin, as below me, Edward and Carlisle stabilized the girl, setting up monitors, and cleaning out her wound before closing it up.

The next few days were terrible. I didn't drink, I didn't speak to anyone. I just sat outside of the room, by the door. I could hear her breathing, her heartbeat, the slight shuffling of her sheets under her faint movements. I couldn't bring myself to go into the room, to see her face, to remember how close I was to losing my control. I knew my family was concerned. The last time I had been this down was in 1937, and that time I had actually killed two people. Then the thought of that returning only made everything weigh on me more heavily. I sat, stone still, consumed in thoughts, as my family went in and out of the room – Carlisle especially. After a while they stopped attempting contact with me. My misery and thirst was setting Jasper and Edward on edge especially. Finally as the fourth day began to dawn, I heard Alice exclaim from the kitchen, "She's about to wake up. Carlisle!"

He was upstairs and in the room in a flash. I, however, was frozen with shock. I could hear the shuffling, the creak of the cot as she sat up, or turned, or something – I couldn't know. Then the shrieking began. I heard the crash of monitors, Carlisle trying to soothe the girl, trying to coax her back onto the bed and to the monitors but with little luck. Esme joined him and the presence of another person threw her off. I then heard the girl ask, "Where is he? The one who brought me here? Where is he!?"

She was talking about me. That broke through my thoughts. Her hysteria reached new levels and Jasper felt it enough that he had to come back into the house. He stood by the door, channeling calm over everyone in the near vicinity trying to bring some composure to everyone involved. Her terror came down a couple notches and it was clear Jasper didn't want to exert too much of his will on us. Edward came up too, speaking to me, "She wants to see you. You need to go in there, Emmett."

I shook my head wildly. I couldn't face her – the way her eyes had pierced through me in that state of desperation. No, I couldn't bear that again.

"Emmett, go!" Edward's eyes were harsh on mine, and as my thoughts began to overwhelm him and Jasper, Jasper finally snapped, "Either you go into the room, or get out so we can help her without you thirst here."

This spurred me to my feet. Fight or flight. I could run, run from this house, my feelings. Drink more bears than I could count and return and pretend this never happened. I wouldn't be a coward. I wouldn't run. I had to force myself into the room, step by step. I pushed open the door, took a deep breath – one lasting remnant of my human habits – and entered.

Her cries ceased and her eyes widened as she took me in, her form tense, back against the wall of the room, hands out in front of her defensively. We regarded each other carefully and I took in her state. Esme and Alice had cleaned her up as best they could, having washed most of the dirt and blood from her hair and skin. I could see small cuts, scrapes and bruises all over her.

Carlisle's soft voice then floated over us. "This is Emmett. He's my son. I'm Carlisle and this is my wife – Esme. No one here will hurt you. I promise you that."

I approached her slowly, shocked by her warmth – she blazed in the room. She had been cold with blood loss and fatigue from lying in the alley the other night. Now her heat was a steady flame.

"Can I help you back to the cot, please?" I asked, keeping my tone as gentle as I could, gingerly extending a hand to her, palm up and open, like I had in the alley. Her eyes flitted between the three of us, and after what seemed like ages, she nodded slightly, straightening up with a grimace, placing her hand in mine. My mouth watered, and I felt exhausted all of a sudden, the restraint weighing on me as I led her back to the cot. Her skin was dry and rough by human standards, felt like a thin sheet of paper between my hand and the top of a stove. When it came to getting her back on the cot, I placed one hand on her good side, and hooked the other one under her arm, lifting her up and onto the mattress. Then I stepped away, separating us by a good couple meters.

"What's your name, sweetheart?" Esme asked her, a soft look of motherly concern on her face.

"Chloe." She responded, not saying anything further than that.

We all stood in silence – well, she sat in silence – until a minute or so later, she said, "You're all… different. Than the one that attacked my – me." It felt like that wasn't what she had wanted to say – Esme, Carlisle and I shared a look. Carlisle shook his head in a manner that would be imperceptible to the gir- Chloe. If there was one thing we all could agree on it was that she could really do without an interrogation right now.

So, Esme suggested, "Well, dear, how about I take you to a shower? You must want to get cleaned up."

To my surprise, Chloe looked over to me. I gave her the best smile I could muster, with an encouraging nod. "You can trust us."

After a moment, she nodded too, she moved to stand up and as she swayed woozily on her feet, my reflexes kicked in and I reached out to steady her, her flame against my ice more fully this time. Her slender hands gripped my upper arms and a tingle ran through my body. She steadied herself and looked up at me. _Hell, she's pretty!_ I thought when I got a good look at her face. Those same piercing eyes from the other night ran over my face again. Her features were angular – with shadows cast on her by dirt and hair, but I could tell that her lips, maybe a bit thin, were supple. Her lashes were long, and her cheekbones cut across her face in a way that matched the somewhat severe light of her eyes.

I realized my arms were around her waist even though she was fine and I let her go, handing her to Esme carefully. Chloe let Esme support her and they left the room together and soon, I heard the shower in Esme's room begin running.

When I came out of the room, Edward's brows were raised and he whispered in a shrill tone, " _Ooh, ohmigosh, her eyes, her lips, wow!"_

If I had been human, I might have blushed. This was confusing, and crazy and I was too emotionally worked over for this. "Okay, that's it!" I yelled and launched myself at him.


	3. Chapter 3

"I put Edward into a headlock in less than a second flat but broke Esme's coffee table in the process. "You will not bring this up again, understood?" I snarl into Edward's ear, too low for anyone but him to hear.

"Okay, okay!" Edward choked out, clearly not having expected this very serious reaction to his not-so-serious comment.

"Good!" I let go. Edward dropped on to the remains of the coffee table. I smirked at him once as he scowled – I had needed that – and heard a shower turn off upstairs. Chloe was out, I heard the rustle of clothing and decided it wouldn't be respectful to listen in to her getting dressed so I focused on talking to my brother and cleaning the broken table instead.

"So," I said, "Does Chloe know what we are? She said we were different or something, but it didn't make any sense…"

"Well, the newborn who was about to kill her was into gloating, so he told her about us, how we were following him, how he wouldn't let us get him and lastly how we were vampires." Edward explained – his expression was one I knew from when he wasn't saying the whole truth. "She gathered by the shared physical abilities and features with whatever he was. Based on the blood drinking he wanted to do, she's figured we are something like vampires."

Sometimes I wished I was a mind reader, so I could know what it was that he was hiding. But I was too mentally exhausted for it. If it was important, he would spit it out eventually. I headed out for a much-needed hunt, letting some of my frustration and anger out on one of the cliffs nearby. After drinking my fill – letting myself get messy this time, I returned home, cleaned up, and thankfully, felt much better now that I was sated.

The smell of human food wafted up to me, garlic and spices, and I heard talking from the kitchen. It seemed that my other siblings had all kept their distance – not wanting to overwhelm Chloe. She was just there with Carlisle and Esme, and eating quietly, it seemed. I joined them down there and was just about as floored as a vampire can get.

I had been right – she was beautiful. With all the blood and dirt gone, her dark brown hair falling down her back with just the slightest wave to it and spilling over her shoulders, and a soft beige-ish white sweater setting off her tanned complexion, she was… well, beautiful. Her eyes, still a bit wary, did gain some slight relaxation at the sight of me.

"Hi, um, Emmett." She murmured, setting down her pasta fork. It looked appetizing for a human, and I wanted her to eat freely.

I gestured towards her, "Don't mind me – please, eat."

She didn't need any more invitation and I noticed she didn't have anything to drink. In a flash, I jumped over to the fridge and grabbed a can of Coke from the food stash we had for Ness and the wolves, and in just about a split second was sitting in a chair adjacent to her, setting the Coke in front of having been rushed to the house by me, I realized, as her jaw dropped open, she probably couldn't have remembered our speed – sure that Esme and Carlisle would've been on the most human behavior possible to keep her at ease.

"I, uh, hope you don't mind Coke. It's all we have, but I could get you water if you wanted. I mean, it wouldn't be cold, well, it'd be as cold as tap water gets, but maybe you prefer pop? I don't know, I figured it'd probably be better if you got some sugar into your system, then again Coke isn't exactly the best kind of sugar – I'm sorry, would you like water?" I rambled, trying to cover the shocked silence watching her gulp of fear, trying to ignore how captivating the shine and tone of her hair was.

Finally she seemed to process what I was saying, and though her dark blue eyes remained wide, she answered with composure. "No, thank you… The Coke is fine. Great really. Thanks."

"S'all good…" I replied quietly, having never felt more unlike myself in my life. It was like my world had gone all upside down.

Esme and Carlisle looked between us not knowing whether to be amused or bewildered. Finally, Esme's mom instincts took over. As soon as Chloe was done eating, Esme bundled her up, giving her some painkillers before taking her up to a spare room to get her to sleep more and rest now that she had eaten properly.

ooo

Days passed with the rest of the family staying out of sight, allowing Chloe to just get used to us, as well as heal up without any unnecessary shock. Luckily, the wound the newborn had inflicted on her was relatively shallow. Carlisle explained he couldn't let her have access to a phone or anything she could use to get in touch with the outside, and she seemed to take it well – Edward confirmed she was bewildered and still a bit wary, but not a threat to us as yet. A family meeting was close on the horizon.

Carlisle insisted she rested more and did not take too many stairs, so we kept her on the same floor as my room, bringing food up to her. She stuck to reading books from the decorative shelf in the room, and sleeping a lot otherwise which Carlisle said was normal given her blood loss and the amount of resources her body was expending on healing up.

Now it was time for Chloe's dinner – Esme had made her some quesadillas, which I carried up on a tray, with some antibiotics and water. I knocked on the door, balancing the tray, keeping an ear on her breathing. It seemed she was asleep. I stepped into the room, placing her food on a table, and moving to her side. "Hey, Chloe, wake up," I said a bit loudly, but in a gentle tone. She shifted slightly, and I reached out carefully, shaking the shoulder on her good side just the slightest. Looking at her face – those sharp features just slightly softened in sleep – I felt bad. Despite our best intentions, we were practically holding her prisoner here. My family needed to choose a course of action fast. I tried shaking her again gently, afraid I'd jostle her too much and hurt her, and leaned in closer, "Got dinner for ya. Quesadillas."

"At this she stirred, sitting up slightly, dark blues blinking at me, "Oh, cool." I brought over the tray waiting to set it down on her lap as she sat up, placing it eventually, perching at the edge of the bed by her feet myself. "How are you feeling?"

She nodded slightly as she said, "Good, good. I hurt a lot less than I did yesterday actually. I guess the new painkiller Carlisle gave me last night is really kicking it. Just feeling a bit more drowsy though. Thanks for the food by the way."

I frowned just a bit at the implication under the words. "Well, we're not going to starve you."

She chuckled, chewing the bite in her mouth and swallowing, before speaking again. "Not what I meant. I just feel bad you have to keep waiting on me." Her lips curve up into a dry smile, "Though I am kind of indefinitely here with no means of contacting the outside world."

"Sorry about that. You can probably tell we're…" I trailed off, not knowing how to finish that sentence.

"Not human?" She provided helpfully, taking another bite, and a sip of the juice I brought for her.

"That – and well, let's just say we've been in trouble before. So we gotta be careful now, with every decision we make." I shrugged.

She chewed on that one, figuratively and literally. Finally when she responded her voice was quiet, "I have to believe you guys haven't kept me alive this far to kill me later."

"No one is going to kill you," I responded immediately, gazing deep into her eyes. "That's not happening."

She simply nodded in response, but I could still see some lines of worry creasing at the corner of her eyes. I knew my brow had furrowed – seeing her worried, well, it left something unsettled in my stomach. "Hey – you've been stuck up here for a few days. I was wondering if maybe you'd want to come downstairs? Just a change of scenery, maybe watch a movie or something?"

"That would be great actually." She nodded enthusiastically finishing off the last of her quesadilla, before sliding the tray aside to swing her legs out of the bed. She was clearly trying to keep the grimace off her face, but I could tell it was grueling. While her wound wasn't deep it curled around her side up towards her shoulder blade, and she had been thoroughly battered all over during the incident with the newborn.

"Want a hand?" I asked, grabbing the tray, balancing it in one hand, offering her my arm.

"At the stairs," Chloe murmured, stepping forward slowly. I decided to run the tray down to the kitchen – by the time I made it back up she was still about meter away from the stairs. She gave me a tight smile through the strain, and I smiled back encouragingly as she made her way over. At the edge of the flight, she braced herself against the banister placing her weight on the good side of her body, and tried to step down with her bad side, wincing hard at the shift of weight.

"Okay, you're gonna rip your stitches or something going like that…" I took a step down and then placed my arm around her waist. "Here." I leaned down carefully sweeping her legs over my other arm and carried her down the stairs, over to the couch in front of the TV where I gently set her down. With each moment of holding her to me, I could appreciate Edward's struggles that I had made so much fun of. It was like her entire frame was pulsing with heat with each of her heartbeats.

I barely heard her saying thanks through my realization that she was blushing. To distract myself, I turned to our large collection of movies. "So, what would you like to watch?" I began reading the options out.

"Ooh, The Godfather. I love that movie!" She interrupted my listing.

"Good choice – it's one of my favorites too actually," I replied as I set it up, putting the movie on, joining her on the couch with the remote after dimming the lights. As it began, I found myself watching her and her reactions more than the actual movie. She was leaning back into the couch her arms wrapped around her, and I noticed goose bumps on her arms after a bit, and pulled a throw off from the back of the couch, handing it over to her. She shot me a grateful look, pulling the throw over her. Realizing I was probably being a creep, just staring at her, I shifted my concentration to the movie. Everything got hotter, her body exuding warmth, and it was such a pleasant yet painful sensation. The muted burn in my throat was worsened by the proximity of it, but the way it felt on my skin was amazing.

I kept my focus on the movie, this time managing to actually get into it. Until of course, her head found it's way to resting on my shoulder. Clearly the medicine had kicked in again because she was out and asleep, and nestling up against me now. I didn't dare shift – though I couldn't be sure if it was because I didn't want to wake her up or if it was because shifting would make it harder to not pull her closer, place my lips to her neck, and –

I looked back to the screen at the sound of gunshots, thankful for the quick distraction. Eventually Carlisle came into the room, quirking a brow slightly at the way Chloe curled up against me. "Medicine's got her knocked out," I said by way of explanation.

He nodded, "She's doing a lot better today. After a couple more days, she should be fine to come off the harder medicine, to normal painkillers. We have a lot of discuss, son."

With that the rest of the family began filing into the room, finding perches around the living room too silently to be a bother to Chloe. I sighed. Family meeting time.


End file.
